UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The No. 2 Penn State men's lacrosse team heads to No. 7 Yale for a 1 p.m. first face in New Haven, Conn., on Saturday, February 23.
Penn State at Yale - 1 p.m.
Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF)
THE MATCH-UP
Penn State and Yale have only matched up three times in the history of the two programs with the Bulldogs holding a 2-1 advantage by winning the last two meetings. Penn State got the first win of the series in a 11-6 neutral location game on March 12, 1997. Yale took the March 11, 2003 match by the score of 17-15, and they took the May 11, 2013 NCAA First Round game, 10-7, in University Park.
The 2019 edition of this series has been touted the "Face-off Apocalypse" of the season as Penn State's Gerard Arceri matches up with Yale's TD Ierlan. Arceri was the 2018 USILA All-America Third Team rep in the face-off slot, while Ierlan was the second team slot. In the preseason Inside Lacrosse All-America teams, Ierlan was named the first team representative, while Arceri was named the second team honoree.
Penn State has played three games to Yale's one, and Arceri has gone 39 of 49 so far for the nation's best 0.796 winning percentage. After one game, Ierlan is at No. 7 in the nation at .720. In the ground ball category, Ierlan ranks fifth at 10.00 a game, while Arceri is tenth at 8.67 per game.
WEEK 3 ROUND-UP
Penn State moved to 3-0 after a 17-4 win at Stony Brook last week. The Nittany Lions saw Mac O'Keefe go off for seven first half goals and added one assist in the first 30 minutes to lead the Nittany Lions to victory. The other impressive feat in the game against the Seawolves was that junior goalie Colby Kneese held a shut out until there was just 2:28 left in the third quarter. Kneese made eight saves in 48:21 in cage and allowed just one goals.
For his efforts, O'Keefe was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and earned a spot on the United State Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's Team of the Week. O'Keefe's seventh goal at the 2:47 mark in the second quarter marked his 100th career goal. He is just the eighth player in Penn State history to score 100 career goals. His eight points tie his career high as well, a mark he has hit three times now in his career. The Syosset, N.Y., native, is currently eighth in the nation at 4.67 goals per game and tied for 12th in points per game at 6.00.
For their three-week string of great performances, Penn State has moved up to No. 2 across the polls, trailing only Loyola Maryland in the USILA, the Inside Lacrosse, and the US Lacrosse Magazine/Nike polls.
NCAA STAT RANKINGS
The Nittany Lions are averaging just over 20 goals a game, while holding their opponents to seven. The Nittany Lions are No. 2 in in the nation in scoring margin adn 13.33. Penn State also has 38 assists so far this season, which is on 62.3-percent of their goals. The Nittany Lions are second in saves per game, averaging 17.00 per game, with Colby Kneese leading the nation in goals against average at 3.91. Grant Ament leads the Nation in assists per game at 5.67, and Gerard Arceri leads in face-off winning percentage at 0.769.
Arceri Faces Big Test on Faceoffs This Weekend
It will take place at the faceoff circle between the Nittany Lions' Gerard Arceri and the Bulldogs' TD Ierlan, both of whom are among the nation's top faceoff men in the sport.
Heading into the matchup, Arceri ranks as the top faceoff man in the country. Through three games, he has capitalized on just under 80 percent of his battles, while Ierlan was able to win 72 percent of his battles against Villanova in Yale's season-opening loss last weekend. To read the rest of the Faceoff Feature, click HERE
ACTIVE POINT STREAK
Redshirt junior Grant Ament has the sixth longest point scoring streak in the nation, recording a point in all 34 of his career games played are 55-81-136. Pat Spencer of Loyola currently leads the list at 53 as a senior at 108-172-280.
MORE THAN A NUMBER
Penn State has special meaning behind the jersey numbers 11 and 16.
Matt Donnelly has proven his perseverance throughout his career and was given the No. 11 jersey as a freshman as the No. 11 is presented to a young man who has persevered in the face of adversity. Donnelly lost his father during his junior year of high school. The jersey number 11, worn by Michael Jacober, 2002-05, has become symbolic of the strength and compassion of the 2005 Penn State lacrosse team who rallied around Michael after his family was tragically killed in a plane crash during his senior season year.
The No. 16 uniform will be worn by Chris Sabia in 2019 as he was selected by former Nittany Lion Ryan Keenan to next wear the number, which has been presented annually, since 2016, to a senior who best represents the "Heart of a Competitor" in honor of our "Teammate for Life" Connor Darcey. Connor passed away tragically on June 12, 2015 in a car accident, prior to his redshirt junior season. The No. 16 is passed down by the student-athlete who had the honor of wearing the No. 16 during the previous season.
CAPTAINS
The Penn State head coach Jeff Tambroni named Mike Aronow, Matt Donnelly and Chris Sabia as captains for 2019.
Aronow, a native of Holbrook, N.Y., returns as team captain after being the only underclassman in the role in 2018, an honor he received after missing all of the 2017 season due to injury. In his comeback season as a redshirt junior, Aronow started all 14 games at defender, causing 11 turnovers, which was good for second on the team. He added 24 ground balls and an assist in 2018.
Donnelly, a native of Sewell, N.J., played in all 14 games in 2018, including earning four starts. He scored eight goals and added five assists for 13 points. He also added seven ground balls and two caused turnovers on the season. Donnelly has also proven his perseverance throughout his career, and was given the No. 11 jersey as a freshman.
Sabia has started all 45 games in his collegiate career, and has accumulated 51 career turnovers, 75 ground balls, six goals and an assist in his time at Penn State. The defenseman has earned both conference and national recognition as he was named both a 2017 and 2018 All-Big Ten second team honoree and was a USILA honorable mention All-American in 2017 and 2018 as well.
